First two medical marijuana dispensaries in R.I. are about to open

Friday

Feb 22, 2013 at 7:45 AM

PROVIDENCE — The sprawling Thomas C. Slater Compassion Center should open in the next few weeks as Rhode Island’s first medical marijuana dispensary, but the business is so low-key that few passersby would...

W. Zachary Malinowski

PROVIDENCE — The sprawling Thomas C. Slater Compassion Center should open in the next few weeks as Rhode Island’s first medical marijuana dispensary, but the business is so low-key that few passersby would even notice it.

The nondescript 13,750-square-foot building at Charles and Corliss streets is across the street from the state’s largest post office. In fact, the facility long served as a processing center for the postal service.

The only signs visible from the street are small placards that say “TCS Patient Registration.”

A few weeks after Slater begins selling marijuana to registered patients in the state medical marijuana program, Greenleaf Compassionate Care Center in Portsmouth expects to follow suit. State law permits up to three dispensaries, or compassion centers, in the state. Principals of a third one selected by the state, Summit Medical Compassion Center, in Warwick, have yet to finalize a location and apply for a registration certificate with the state.

Summit officials plan on doing that in the coming weeks, but their failure to act sooner means that early summer is the soonest the facility will open.

The dispensaries are intended by the state to give medical marijuana patients another legal source of cannabis. Now they must either grow it themselves or arrange to buy it from state-licensed caregivers.

Gerald J. McGraw Jr., Slater’s chief executive officer and founder, said the overhaul of the building that houses the dispensary began the day before Thanksgiving. Records filed with the state Health Department show that James E. Griffin Jr., a former state trooper, loaned McGraw and his group $1.6 million for the initial capital and operating needs.

Griffin, who serves on Slater’s board, has charged a fixed interest rate of 9 percent for 10 years, according to Health Department documents. He left the state police in 2003 on a disability pension after 17 years of service. He has worked in international security and protected L. Paul Bremer, the former U.S. administrator of Iraq. He also has guarded members of the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia, according to the documents.

The Slater dispensary will grow up to 99 mature marijuana plants, the maximum allowed under state law. They are also allowed to grow 51 seedlings that are not ready to harvest and have up to 1,500 ounces of marijuana available for sale.

Unless the patients are registered with Slater, they will not be admitted to buy marijuana.

The entrance of the building also has a bulletproof wall and customer window for patients who are registered to buy their marijuana at Slater. Under state law, patients are required to list the names of their marijuana suppliers and they are not allowed to have more than two.

Security planning at the dispensary building has been overseen by Raymond S. White, Slater’s chief operating officer, who recently retired as the lieutenant colonel of the state police.

“We continue to work collaboratively with state and local law enforcement to ensure that this facility will set the standard for security protocols,” White said. State law requires the state police to conduct criminal background checks on all dispensary employees and review each center’s security system.

McGraw, an electrical contractor, said the eight customer counter aisles will feature enclosed glass showcases counters — similar to those in jewelry stores — that will have various strains of marijuana. The different strains provide relief for customers suffering from cancer, HIV/AIDS, chronic back pain, glaucoma and other maladies.

To be approved by the state for participation in the medical marijuana program, a physician must certify that an applicant has at least one of the medical conditions specified under the statute that governs the program.

Under state law, patients are allowed to buy a maximum of 2.5 ounces every 15 days. An ounce will cost $200 to $300, but McGraw expects most customers to buy an eighth of an ounce for $25 to $45. The pricing is based on the cost of cultivating the crops, overhead at the center and the going rate among caregivers.

Slater and Greenleaf plan to buy marijuana from patients and licensed caregivers until they are able to harvest their first crop grown at the dispensaries. Generally, it takes three to four months to cultivate marijuana. Chris Reilly, Slater’s spokesman, said that the center will wait and see if they stop buying once they begin harvesting their own crops.

Patients are allowed to grow up to 12 plants, while caregivers can grow up to 24 plants and provide marijuana for as many as five patients. Health Department figures show that there are 4,940 licensed patients and 3,471 caregivers in Rhode Island.

The caregiver program will continue once the dispensaries open. Many patients have had problems finding suppliers or high-quality marijuana. The dispensaries are intended to allow them to buy their medicine in a safe environment with professionals growing the drug.

The arrival of the dispensaries has taken more than three years. There has been a series of public hearings and the Health Department reviewed 18 applications before settling on Slater, Greenleaf and Summit. But the problems didn’t end there. Governor Chafee, leery about possible raids by federal authorities, delayed issuing registration certificates for more than year. Last spring, the General Assembly passed legislation that that set the 99 plant grow limit. Now, state officials feel that limit will appease the government, which had concerns about large-scale marijuana operations.

Medical marijuana remains illegal under federal law, but it is permitted in 18 states and the District of Columbia.

Slater will have a work force of 27 and they hope to have 500 patients registered shortly after they open. Projections filed with the state call for 1,500 patients after two years and revenues to reach nearly $4 million.

Right now, licensed patients can complete Health Department forms at Slater that designate the dispensary as their marijuana provider.

Across the state, Seth Bock is in the final stages of completing extensive renovations at the building that will soon house the Greenleaf Compassionate Care Center. The former home of a fastener business has natural shingles, green trim and two garage doors that face West Main Rd.

Bock and Richard Radebach, co-owners of Greenleaf, bought the 2,800-square-foot building the day after Christmas and they hope to get a registration certificate next month from the Health Department. The Pawtucket Credit Union holds a security interest in the building, while the business has secured a $200,000 loan from its principals and management team.

Bock said that health officials still have to approve the building’s location and the state police must conduct a security inspection.

The facility is divided into three sections: a sales area, cultivation room and administrative offices. The largest room, on the south side of the building, has 20-foot ceilings that will feature a sales counter. There also will be a kitchen area that will produce edible forms of marijuana.

“Everything is going to be clean and crisp,” he said.

Greenleaf has hired a dessert chef from 22 Bowen’s Wharf, a Newport restaurant. She will work in an open kitchen and make cookies, chocolate, popsicles, gluten-free products laced with cannabis. Edibles are considered safer and more potent than smoking marijuana. Bock said that oils and tinctures from the drug also will be sold to licensed patients.

The middle portion of the dispensary will be the grow room. Greenleaf hopes to begin cultivating marijuana next month.

The smallest area in the north end of the building will be used as administrative offices. Bock said that Greenleaf will employ 10 people — managers, staff, cultivation experts and a cook.

By the end of its second year of operation, Greenleaf projects 850 patients and revenues of $2.15 million. The staff also will grow from 10 to 14.5 with a total payroll of $786,000, according to projections the dispensary filed with the Health Department.